Smartphone

A smartphone [ smɑ ː t ˌ fəʊn ] is a mobile phone (cell phone ), the introduction of computers functionality and connectivity than a conventional advanced mobile phone. First smart phones combined the functions of a PDA or tablet computer with the functionality of a mobile phone. Later, the function of a portable media playback device, a digital and video camera and a GPS navigation device in the compact equipment has also been added yet.

A central feature of modern smartphones are touch- sensitive screens. In both standard websites as well as mobile optimized websites can be displayed. A fast internet connection is done either using a mobile broadband connection via the wireless service provider or via WLAN.

Today, a variety of free and proprietary operating systems (OS) is available for modern smartphones. So it is possible that a smartphone over its service life followed by software and OS update of the technical development. The first smartphones were already in the 1990s. Only with the introduction of the Apple iPhone in 2007 they won significant market share, today most sold mobile phones smartphones. By permanently entrained Internet access this triggered from a change in Internet use behavior, particularly in social networks.

A common alternative in English, sober concept for smartphone is the handset, so the device for the hand.

Basics

Smartphones can be distinguished by the following features of traditional cell phones, PDAs and Electronic Organizers:

• Smartphones are not optimized in design and operation for telephony, but to a small space enable the operation of a wide range of applications. Typical characteristics are therefore relatively large and high-resolution displays, alphanumeric keypads and / or touchscreens.
• Smartphones usually have an operating system with laid open API (see operating systems). It allows the user to install third party programs. Mobile phones have, in contrast, usually a pre-defined user interface, the limited character can be, for example, Java applications, extended.
• Smartphones often have different sensors are found less frequently in conventional mobile phones. These include in particular motion, position, magnetic field, light and proximity sensors and a GPS receiver.

Through these features, smartphones offer the basics of mobile office and data communication in a single device. The user can capture data and install additional software itself (such as addresses, text and dates) on the keyboard or a stylus. Most devices have one or more digital cameras motionless for receiving and moving images as well as for video telephony.

The connection types, for example, used in PDAs to synchronize such as WLAN, Bluetooth, Infrared or USB cable connection to be supplemented by previously common in mobile telephony connectivity protocols such as GSM, UMTS ( and HSDPA ), GPRS and HSCSD.

For example, it is possible to go alongside the mobile telephony, SMS, MMS, e -mails and, in modern devices, video conferencing via UMTS or internet telephony ( VoIP) with Wi-Fi to take advantage of Internet access points. Theoretically - and partly also in the practical use - can use it from the Internet in addition to audio and video streaming (for example via WLAN) television programs over DVB -H and with appropriate hardware and DVB - T are received.

Another example is the Java support built-in or optional (on CLDC or MIDP - based ) - Mobile phones are considered as one of the most popular applications of embedded Java.

History

As the first smartphone applies developed by BellSouth and IBM and from mid- 1994 to early 1995 as " Personal Communicator " displaced Simon. Pioneer of smartphone systems was the PEN / GEOS 3.0 GeoWorks the manufacturer, which was used in the Nokia Communicator series, introduced in 1996. As for the Nokia Communicator series 92x0, 9300, 9300 and 9500 moved to another processor, the company and its Psion EPOC system formed an alliance to develop the Symbian platform. Symbian has long been the most widely used smartphone operating system in 2006 and had a market share of about 73 %. The main competitors were Windows Mobile, BlackBerry OS and Palm OS.

The introduction of the iPhone with its multi- touch user interface in 2007 marked a turning point in the smartphone market. New operating systems like Android, Palm webOS and Windows Phone 7 could be operated primarily or exclusively on touch screens. Symbian thereby lost rapidly in importance and was in the autumn of 2011, roughly on par with the iPhone. Between 2008 and 2011, announced all major manufacturers of Symbian devices to set in the future on other systems. Leader since autumn 2011 Android with over 60 % market share. Also with a significant market share Apple's iOS operating system is then to be mentioned. Nokia has switched to Windows Phone 2011/2012.

Since 2009, there is given the increasing importance of smartphones to numerous legal battles over patents and design rights, in which all major smartphone manufacturers are involved.

The 2013 introduced Galaxy S4 is the first TCO certified smartphone in the world.

The end of 2013 came with the Fair Phone the first smartphone on the market at the Fair Trade and environmental aspects play a greater role.

Advantages and disadvantages compared to single devices

The main advantages of a combination of mobile phone, PDA, camera and PMT: You have to perform only one device with them. It must be monitored only one battery charge, and there is no need, for example, manage address data in both the phone and in the PDA or PMT parallel or having to synchronize. As a key advantage, the high degree of integration of services and applications, in particular via the Internet is emerging, which achieve communication and interaction / exchange of data both high bandwidth usage options as well as quality that would not be possible with individual devices. So smartphones have contributed with their lightweight mobile usability significantly to the success of social networks ( social media). Another good example is the satellite navigation, in which the market trend of PDA / Smartphone PNA over again back to the smartphone. This development goes hand in hand alongside the significant increase in popularity of smartphones with the growing power of mobile operating systems. Both contribute to the fact that technological innovations increasingly - keep on smartphones catchment, such as new display technologies ( AMOLED, Retina, Gorilla Glass), NFC (Near Field Communication) and application areas such as Mobile-Payment/Mobile - or exclusively commerce or augmented reality, which require either integrated solutions or can be made so only usable in its full range of functions. According to a study Bitkom had in April 2012, every third German a smartphone.

Disadvantages are:

• Some users are overwhelmed by the variety of settings and applications.
• It must be made frequently compromises. Combination units can perform most tasks not as well done as specialized devices. For example, integrated digital cameras usually do not reach the recording quality of a pure digital camera. The acoustic and visual qualities of the devices are not qualitatively usually sufficient for modern live-stream technology.
• The handling of some functions is less ergonomic than specialized equipment.
• Today's battery technology comes up with intensive use of integrated services such as Bluetooth, WLAN, GPS, or digital camera to its limits.
• To install a result of the extensibility of the system and the possibility of software itself (apps), every smartphone is vulnerable to malicious software ( viruses, trojans, etc. ). In particular, the sorglosere handling and the lack of safety awareness here create opportunities for attack.
• The provision and the linkage of many personal data, often provided with geolocation, in a mobile device pose privacy problems. In a poorly password protected device in case of loss is ( leaving behind, theft, tricksters ) add the risk of Ausspioniertwerdens.
• Smartphones combine often independently on the Internet, about to set the time or check if there are updates. This can lead to connection costs or a more expensive fare may be required that covers the Internet costs. Often, this property can, however, suppress in the connection settings.

Features

Thanks to a great wealth of functions can be modern smartphones depending on the equipment, inter alia, use as:

• Communications center (mobile phone, web browser, email, SMS, MMS and IP - telephony ( VoIP), instant messaging (IM) and chat, sometimes fax, video telephony and conferencing solutions )
• Personal Information Manager ( PIM) with address book, calendar, task list, memo pad, birthday list, etc. with balance using a desktop application or via the Internet ( Microsoft ( Hosted ) Exchange, BlackBerry service )
• Dictaphone
• Data storage
• Media capabilities with media player, radio, picture viewer, simple photo and video camera, front camera
• Pocket computer ( for example, word processing, spreadsheet, PDF reader, calculator, etc.)
• Called wireless modem for the PC, even tethering
• Navigation with GPS and maps
• For other location-based services ( LBS / Aware Services) such as mobile search environment ( so-called Points of Interest)
• Spiele-Plattform/mobile game console
• Enterprise Mobility Client: Mobile access device (typically a thin client ) to IT services and servers within a corporate infrastructure applications: ERP, CRM, inventory management system, specialty and industry solutions in the industry, logistics, medicine (HIS hospital information system )

Smartphones are available in different designs that are not clear dividing lines. A common feature is a QWERTY keyboard, which can be either folded or inserted ( for example Samsung F700 Qbowl ) or fixed to the front panel is (eg Nokia E61i ). The latter design is also referred to as Q - smartphones (Q = qwerty or qwerty ). Most smart phones have a touch screen and can be similar to use a PDA. While some devices ( eg Apple iPhone ) completely designed to operate with your fingers ( this design is also referred to as a touch phone), other devices are many functions with a stylus to operate (eg Sony Ericsson P1i ).

Various smartphones

Smartphones Nokia Communicator

BlackBerry 8700c: QWERTY Smartphone

Palm Pre

Apple iPhone 5

T -Mobile G1 smartphone with Android

Nokia Lumia 900

Samsung SGH- I900 Omnia

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini

LG G2

BlackBerry Z10

Nokia Lumia 1020 with camera grip PD- 95G

Smartlets

The neologisms Smartlet or English phablet denote mixed forms of smartphones and tablet computers. It involves Smartphone models with larger than average screens. Smartlets are smaller than conventional tablets, for it will be given screen sizes of about 5 to 7 inches (about 13-18 cm). Examples of Smartlets are Samsung Galaxy Note, Sony Xperia Z Ultra and LG Vu 3

LG Vu 3

| Samsung Galaxy Note

Other types

The Russian provider Yota presented a variant of a smartphone, in which a second screen with electronic paper is available on the rear panel next to the conventional liquid crystal display which is visible but is not yet sensitive to the touch even in bright ambient light.

Operating Systems

As smartphones are more complex than a simple mobile phones, a smart phone is to be considered rather as a system: It consists basically of a plurality of different network-connected devices. In particular, the mobile module or modem is likewise only one of several devices. It therefore has its own firmware part and operates independently from the rest of the system to some degree, such as the Apple iPhone or the Android devices. ( See also baseband processor) An overview of the global market shares of the manufacturers of smartphone operating systems, indicate the following illustrations.

Overview and market shares:

Statistical data with sales figures and market shares

Application software

Processors

The processor accepts as in any computer system resulting arithmetic operations. Depending on the manufacturer and model, there is this big difference in performance. While older and simpler devices have relatively few processor clock rates, can current models on four processor cores ( quad-core ) and have a clock speed of 1 GHz and more. Most built- in smart phones processors are based on licensed designs the ARM architecture.

In Nokia's N - series processors from Texas Instruments have been widely publicized. Various devices, including the N70, N80 and N90 are equipped with the TI OMAP 1710, which operates at a clock rate of 220 MHz. The models Nokia N93 and N95 have the TI OMAP 2420, which is clocked at 330 MHz. Consequently, these devices are much faster to use and are already suitable for video games.

Add to HTC Touch Diamond models, Touch Pro and Touch HD Qualcomm processors come with a clock frequency of 528 MHz. Since, however HTC Windows Mobile used in these devices as the operating system, which requires more memory and processing power, the higher processing power provides no significant advantage in terms of speed of operation.

With 620 MHz again higher the processor speed of the Apple iPhone 3GS from the year 2009. Here also compute-intensive functions run as multi-touch largely Ruckel and delay.

In 2010, the fastest built with a clock frequency of 1 GHz to date in a smartphone processors in the Toshiba TG01, the beginning of 2010 erschienenem Google Nexus One and the HTC HD2 and the HTC Desire could be found with a Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 and the HP Palm Pre 2 will also be powered by a 1 GHz processor. Furthermore, the Samsung Galaxy S has a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor names.

LG Electronics has released the P990 Optimus Speed/2X in March 2011, the first smartphone with a dual- core processor. Later, other manufacturers followed, such as Samsung with model Galaxy S II I9100, HTC with the erschienenem in May 2011 Sensation model, in which a processor type Qualcomm MSM8260 is fitted with a clock speed of 1.2 gigahertz, and Motorola with the device Droid Razr. The Apple iPhone 4s, which was released in October 2011, also has a dual-core processor of the type Apple A5.

2012 appeared the first smartphone with quad-core processors, so their processors have four cores. The first was the HTC One X. Furthermore, published in May, the Samsung Galaxy S III with the Samsung 's own Exynos processor Quad 4 and the LG Optimus 4X HD, which is used as well as the HTC one X is a Tegra 3 processor on the chip manufacturer Nvidia. The Apple A6 ( X) dual-core processors that are installed in the iPad 4 or iPhone 5, have a similar performance as the Exynos 4 Quad.

The end of 2012 or beginning of 2013, the second generation of quad-core processors has been released, which in contrast to the first generation (eg Tegra 3), which put seeds on Cortex- A9, now often either on the more powerful Cortex- A15 architecture based ( Tegra 4 ) or compatible on an ARM instruction set own design was based, which may be placed on the performance between the Cortex -A9 and Cortex- A15 architecture, but is very energy efficient. ( Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, 600.800 ). The dual-core processor of the iPhone 5S, the Apple A7, which appeared in September 2013, is the first 64 -bit processor on the market.

Term

The operating time depends on the capacity of the battery and the power consumption. When switched off, only the built-in clock needs energy. In standby mode with display off a smartphone is ready for several days. In operation, the energy demand significantly increased. Peak values ​​of the mobile transmit power in the range of one watt. WLAN uses similar active power even when no data is transmitted. To make calls as long as possible, WLAN and Bluetooth should be turned off, as well as the backlight. By activated GPS, the stand-by time is also considerably reduced.

Road hazards

The use of smart phones at the wheel has reached alarming proportions. A study of a U.S. insurance revealed that nearly half of all car drivers between 18 and 29 use the internet while driving an automobile. In the U.S. 2010 3.092 people died and 400,000 people were injured because the driver was distracted. In Germany, according to paragraph 24 of the Highway Code, any use of a smartphone is prohibited in the unit must be " picked up or held ." Violations are punishable by 40 euro fine.

But accidents of pedestrians to take dramatic. When checking the displays people turn the perception of their environment from almost completely. Whatever other traffic takes the predictability of their behavior.

Interchangeability of the batteries

Some manufacturers such as Apple, HTC, LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony block for many new smart phones now the battery in a way that a change only with great effort or non -destructively is possible. This can lead to a shortened life of equipment and is problematic in recycling, since the necessary removal of the battery at the time of submission: Future / In 5 years (as of 2012) is uneconomical. Therefore, the head of the Federal Environmental Agency Jochen Flasbarth advocates a ban permanently installed batteries.